Wire clothespin



ug. 22 1950 C, 5 READ 2,519,398

WIRE CLOTHESPIN Filed July 5l. 1945 Patented Aug. 22, 1950 WIRE CLOTHESPIN vCharles S. Read, New Smyrna Beach, Flai, asn signor of. one-third to Carl Anker', Edgewater,

Fla.

2' claims.. (o1. 2li-139) The object of this invention is to provide a wire clothespiri made from a length' of rust proof resilient wire characterized by a looped portion serving both as a handle and a means of ,sus-

pension on a clothes line and a double looped portion at one end of the handle'forming a central notch for wedging clothes on the line and a transverse notch ior otherwise cooperating with clothes to hold them in suspended position.

Another object of my inventionv is to furnish a wire clothes pin which may befapplied toand detached from the line at will and` allowed to remain thereon until required for service in the hanging out oi a washing of clothes and is capable of use vfor supporting garments in either y posi-tion of suspensionrin which the pin per se may assume.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a wire clothes pin which is not only simple in its construction but is efcient and reliable in its operation and is inexpensive as an article of manufacture.

To these and other ends my invention comprehends further improvements all of which will be set forth in the accompanying specication,

the novel features thereof being set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figs. l and 2 are front and rear views in elevation showing a clothes pin embodying my invention.

Fig. 3 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. l showing the pin in the reverse position suspended from a clothes line, and

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional View taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters in the several illustrations indicate similar parts.

In carrying out my invention I form the pin with a body or handle portion l made of a loop comprising the parallel side bars 2 and 3 connected at the bottom by the arcuate portion 4. One of these side bars is provided with a latch through which the clothes line may be passed into and out of the loop portion of the handle. Since the clothes pin is made of a single piece of wire I conveniently form the latch by overlapping the two ends of the wire a short distance. If desired one of these ends may be flattened and given a concave form on its inner side, as indicated at 5, to receive the other overlapping extremity 6 of the wire. This latch is preferably located acljacent to the arcuate end 4 of the loop.

At the opposite end of the loop I is the head or Si l) clothes gripper whichk may be used to bind portions of garmentsor other articles, directly onto theclothesline, indicatedl by 1in Figs. 1 and 2, or to receive larticles vwhen the position is reversed as shown in Fig. 4. Y y v u ObservingFig. 1, it will be seen that the side bars 2 and 3 `are cur-ved inwardly at 2aand 3*? forming a neck of a Width somewhat less than that of the main loop From this point the bars flare laterally to the points 2bn-3b where they are given.- reverse or reentrant bends and 'extend downwardly in substantial parallelism into the area of said neck. These reentrant portions .of the bars, indicated as 2 and 3C, yform pincers. They are spaced apart slightly atY their lower ends where they are curved in `opposite directions in accordance with the sides ofthe neck. Thisf'enables them to embracethe clothes line 1 andl facilitate its entrance between the bar portions 26--3c together with the portion of the clothes that may be suspended on it.

The pincers portions of the arms formed by portions Zc, 2e and 3c, 3e, respectively, are bowed in a transverse direction (see Fig. 3) so that their lower ends stand forward of the plane of the bars 2 and 3 and in close proximity with bars 2 and 3 at the point where the latter curve inwardly to form the neck. Thus it will be seen that a pincers action may also be had at two additional points, viz.; between the bar 2 and the bottom end 2d of the head loop and between the bar 3 and the lower end 3d of its head loop.

The required resiliency or spring action necessary to firmly grasp the clothes line and clothes at the point thereon where the pin is applied is accomplished by reversely bending the wire upwardly (Fig. 2) at the extremities 2d--3d to form an upwardly standing loop formed by the portions 2"-3 which are connected at their tops by the bend il). It will also be noticed from Fig. 3 that the arm portions 2e--3e are bowed outwardly, i. e. in a direction opposite to the curve given to the parts 21-3d to throw the bend l0 away from the plane of the top bends 213-3b so that there is thus provided between these elements another throat for clamping clothes.

Another short explanation which will enable the construction to be readily visualized is this: A wire of given length is bent at a mid point into a central loop comprising portions 2e--3e spaced apart a distance approximately the diameter of a clothesline, the apex l 0 of the loop being somewhat smaller than said diameter. The sides of this loop are next bent rearwardly upon themselves, at the bottom portions 22-3e a distance suiiiciently removed from its apex I to provide the adjacent pairs of arms 2C-3, with the necessary lateral resiliency to enable them to rmly grip a clothes line. Next, the arms 2"3c are bent laterally to form the loops 2-3". In so bending the sides they extend transversely to the plane of the loop, and in rear thereof. The then remaining free ends of the wire are bent laterally as shown in Figs. '1, 2 and 4 to form the neck and downwardly the distance desired to form the handle, their extremities being located in an overlying fashion to form the latch which permits the pin to be engaged with the clothes line.

For hanging the heavier articles of a days washing, such as those which are customarily thrown in part over the line, the pins will be used in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. At other times, for lighter articles and for lengthy articles such as sheets or table cloths which require intermediate supports, the pins may be reversed, as shown in Fig. 4, and the articles secured in one or another of the pincers before mentioned. The grippers last referred to also perform a useful function when the pins are used in the first described position as they enable smaller garments to hang over heavier articles at their points of support, thus increasing the holding capacity of a clothes line.

v The claimed invention is:

1. A wire clothes pin having outer side bars the ends of which are bent inwardly and turned back against said outer bars to form inner side bars in the space between the outer bars, said inner bars being integrally joined and reversely bent forwardly at a midpoint upon themselves to form clothes line gripper arms, said arms having a iiared opening between their lower ends permitting the entrance of a clothes line to be gripped therebetween, each of said arms being in close proximity with its contiguous outer bar and cooperating therewith to form a pincer.

2. A wire clothes pin having outer side bars the ends of which are bent inwardly and turned back against said outer bars to form inner side bars in the space between the outer bars, said inner bars being integrally joined and reversely bent forwardly at a midpoint upon themselves to form clothes line gripper arms, said arms having a ilared opening between their lower ends permitting the entrance of a clothes line to be gripped therebetween, each of said arms being in close proximity with its contiguous outer bar and cooperating therewith to form a pincer, said side bars having overlapping free ends forming a latch near the end of the clothes pin opposite said gripper arms for the entrance and exit of a clothes line into and out of the clothes pin.

CHARLES S. READ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 188,417 Sanderson et al. Mar. 13, 1877 802,262 Brooks Oct. 17, 1905 914,691 Anderson Mar. 9, r1909 938,765 Henig Nov. 2, 1909 2,074,841 Haimowitz Mar. 23, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 110,520 Australia May 2, 1940 491,954 France Feb. 25, 19'19 

